2 Degrees Out West

If you live in the West, you've experienced the impacts of wildfire. In the last few decades, as the effects of climate change, unhealthy forests, and a drier west merge together, catastrophic wildfires have become a significant part of our lives.  Communities across the West are threatened by massive, out-of-control wildfires. We're seeing wildfires outside of what we used to consider “...

Running Up For Air – Why These Runners Ran Until They Couldn’t In the West, we are on the front lines of air pollution. Major western cities like Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Reno regularly rank among the worst in the entire country for particle and ozone pollution.  The people who live in our region are noticing. The Running Up for Air race series is an event that challenges participants...

Clean Energy Expert Debunks Clean Coal In a legally dubious 202c order, the federal government forced the broken, dirty, and unreliable coal power plant to stay open past its planned closure. The craziest part? The plant is currently broken and would need to be fixed – costing millions of dollars.  It's the latest in the confusing effort from the administration to keep coal power plants onlin...

Just two days before the new year residents of Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming woke up to an unpleasant surprise.  The Craig One power station in Northwest Colorado had been forced to remain open by the Trump administration. The Administration used an unusual and legally shaky 202c order to force the plant to stay open. It was the latest in a series of similar orders forcing old, dirty...

Nevada is in crisis.  Rising utility bills have - in the most extreme cases - climbed to over $1,000 a month. Meanwhile, the state is losing ground on emissions reduction goals, which is driving pollution and worsening health outcomes for Nevadans. As temperatures climb higher and higher,  air conditioning in the heat of summer becomes the difference between life and death. As the state warms and...

While the recent rollbacks of national climate policy and backtracking of hard-fought wins are especially concerning - they aren't the whole story. there is another key venue where wins are happening.  The states.    States and local governments have the power to set energy regulations, emissions reduction goals, and fund critical clean infrastructure and transportation. They can protect land...

In the last two years, artificial intelligence has rapidly changed the world that we live in.  If you spend time online, you’ve seen it incorporated into almost every aspect of our digital lives. Search engines, social media, and online tools are all in a race to incorporate AI. Powering AI are data centers – buildings that house endless rows of servers that bring LLMs, cloud computing, and high-s...

The impacts of climate change are becoming harder and harder to ignore. Many communities in the interior West are on the front lines of dealing with these impacts.   The White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, has been taking steps to mitigate the impacts of drought on their communities. The 1.6 million-acre Fort Apache Indian Reservation is located in east-central Arizona at the headwaters of the...

Mere hours after Inauguration Day, the new administration began slashing hard-fought environmental wins: rolling back protections from fossil-fuel development, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, and freezing spending for critical climate resilience projects. The Trump Administration has continued on the path that will end up forcing Americans to pay more for energy, bear the high financial...

In 2022, the water levels in Lake Powell dropped so low that experts worried the Colorado River wouldn't be able to flow past Glen Canyon dam. This situation is called deadpool, and it's one of many concerns surrounding a drier and hotter Colorado River.   All forecasting points to another dry year for the basin - this is expected to continue over the long term as climate change affects...

Each year WRA works hard to advance our climate goals on the state level.   In an increasingly uncertain federal environment, state level action is the key to seeing real change and progress on climate.   WRA has been working at state legislatures all throughout 2025 to bring forward proactive policies that fight climate change and its impacts.  We’ve also defended against anything that could hold...

In the West, we want a future where we're no longer dependent on coal and methane to meet energy demands. We want to see more clean energy adopted and we want to keep that clean energy affordable.  Nearly two-thirds of voters in the West want to see a transition to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy.   So - How do we get there?  What if I told you there was a lesser known but critical...

If you're listening to this podcast, I'm willing to bet you are looking for solutions to climate change and pollution in the West.  You probably already recycle, reuse grocery bags, avoid single-use plastic, and maybe drive an EV to minimize your environmental impact.  Reducing our dependence on polluting practices is a good first step in caring for the environment.  Similarly, the trans...

Colorado has some of the best access to beautiful landscapes of any of the states in the West.  It's home to four National Parks, nine National Monuments, 44 Wilderness Areas, 14.5 million acres of National Forest and Grassland, and over 637 peaks above 13,000ft.  And these landscapes sustain a thriving outdoor recreation economy and culture. According to a Park's and Wildlife Study, Col...

The Colorado River is at the center of our region.   This has been true for as long as people have called the West home.  The River Basin has been home to Tribal Nations since time immemorial. Today seven present states, over 30 Tribal Nations, and two countries all depend on the Colorado River.   Recently, the seven states and the Tribal Nations that rely on the Colorado River have come to a hist...

Today on 2 Degrees Out West we'll be learning what federal funding is available to address climate change, how it's distributed, how WRA has helped our region Over the past 4 years there's been something unprecedented happening in the federal government, and it's impacted our work at WRA for the better. The United States government has been investing in climate solutions. In 20...

Of all the states in our region, Arizona is particularly affected by climate change. It's hotter and drier than ever. Arizona is at the center of a battle when it comes to energy regulation. It's a battle happening behind the scenes hidden by regulatory language and process. But it is one of WRA's top clean energy priorities. Arizona is falling behind the rest of the West with its p...

Climate change is a large scale problem. It’s bigger than any one of us, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the scale of the issue. How can we make a difference? In the West where we can watch the winters get shorter and increasingly the effects of wildfire and drought are harder to ignore, it’s difficult not to be overwhelmed. But, there’s hope. It doesn’t have to be this way. The best science...

As climate change causes the West to become hotter and drier, communities are working hard to save water and stretch limited supplies. But in order to save water, we’ve got to know how much we’re using in the first place. The White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona is working to do just that.   Join Kim Mitchell as she talks with Cheryl Pailzote and Lydo Harvey about a project that the Tribe is und...

The opposite of climate doomerism is climate action. Join us as Haley Littleton and Kandice Cleveland from WRA ignite our enthusiasm for the path to a "Bright Climate Future." Our guests unravel the cord of climate action and resilience, casting a beacon of hope as we approach the 2024 election year.  Our conversation isn't just about highlighting achievements; it's about ackno...

What if nature could be a catalyst for healing the wounds of war? Join me as we journey with Fredrick Solheim, a geophysicist and river runner, who uses the adrenaline-charged wilderness as a therapeutic tool for disabled veterans. We traverse the raging rapids of Cataract Canyon and explore the incredible power of nature, adventure, and camaraderie in initiating a journey towards healing and self...

Ever wondered how your favorite beer or cider impacts the environment? Tune into this episode of "2 Degrees Out West" as we serve up a hearty conversation with Alex Ditto from Upslope Brewing Company and Colin Schilling from Schilling Cider, who are brewing a sustainable future for the beverage industry. They share their unique approach to utilizing infinitely recyclable aluminum cans ov...

Have you ever considered the intersection of poverty, culture, and environmental justice? Our intriguing conversation with the formidable Ona Porter, founder of Prosperity Works and Clean Energy Leader, explores this in-depth. Ona's lifelong mission to uplift limited-income households in New Mexico and her intricate understanding of poverty, gained from her background as an educator, paint a...

Have you ever wondered why, despite understanding the global crisis climate change poses, we struggle to address it effectively? Today, we step into the realm of the human mind with political psychologist, Dr. Conor Seyle, to make sense of this conundrum. We illuminate the complexities of cognitive biases and our long-term thinking capacity and take you on a fascinating journey through the psychol...

Fashion's environmental impact is a hot topic, and we have the perfect expert to guide us through it. Meet Jennifer Inaba, a communications manager at WRA and PhD candidate studying sustainable fashion. Jennifer's insights into the fashion industry's environmental implications are not just enlightening, they expose a flawed system that urgently needs reform. From water pollution to...